Locomotive arch brick



April 22, 1930." A, F, ECKER 1,755,682

LOGOMOTIVE ARCH BRIG K Filed May 11, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g i %%Z I 1 VENTOR g ma, mums 3 April 22, 1930. A, F, BECKER 1,755,682

Patented Apr. 22', 1 930.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR F. BECKER, F FULTON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

AMERICAN ARCH COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE LOCOMOTIVE ARCH BRICK Application filed may 11, 1927. Serial N0. 190,833.

This invention relates to locomotive arch brick and their manufacture, and more particularly to improvements in the structure and manufacture of bricks of varying thickness of body at various points.

Arch brick, as now commonly used, are equipped at each end with a bevel on one side and a curved recess or concavity on the other. These are so arranged that the two bevels 1c are on opposite faces of the brick'and likewise the two concavities, so that the brick is reversible, and in either of its positions a bevel will engage an arch tube at one end of the brick and a concave surface will en- 1 gage an adjacent tube at the other end of the brick. Such construction lends itself particularly well to a firm seating of the brick on the tubes and yet provides, by virtue of the bevel, for different distances or spacing between pairs of tubes, as well as for some relative movement between brick and tubes as expansion and contraction take place. The side brick commonly employed, at the end adjacentthe side sheet of the firebox, generally have a double bevel or a thinned portion adapted to rest against the side sheet.

Generally, in the manufacture of such bricks by hand, as has been and commonly is the practice, the clay, after being ground,

screened for size, and tempered with water to the properconsistency, is put into the mould, by hand, after which the mould is shaken or jarred in such manner that the material fills out the mould. The surplus clay or mud cap is then cut from the top of the mould, the freshly cut surface is slicked, and the brick dumped from the mould, taken to the drier, and afterwards to the kiln to be baked, wherein large numbers I 40 of the brick are stacked, one row or layer upon another.

It is obvious that, by this method of manufacture, certain defects or weaknesses are present in the brick, such as the following First, sand seams or partings, which are caused by sand-coated surfaces coming in contact with the plastic mud or with each other, thereby breaking the bond. Second, oil seams or artings, which are caused by oil-coated sur aces (the oil being used to prevent sticking to the mould) coming in-contact with a portion of the plasticmud or with each other. Third, air pockets which form partings in the ball of clay ormud durin its preparation and which are not closed gy the jarring or bumping of the mould when it is being filled out. And fourth, and of great importance, the brick is formed with a comparatively uniform density 'and' compactness throughout its body so that in consequence the ends and corners of the brick, which are thinner than the rest of the brick, are its weakest parts. The result, particularly'of the last-mentioned condition, is that'broken edges and corners, and Warping, occur during manufacture, handling, shipping, and use of the bricks; For example, when the bricks are in the kiln, those at the bottom, bearing the Weight of the stack or pile, are often warped or broken at the ends or corners while being baked, making some of them unsaleable. Others, when they are in service, either break as a result of hidden seams or defects, or more often chip or break at the tube-contacting surfaces, which, as before pointed out, are the thinnest and, therefore, the weakest points of the brick. Moreover, unevenness or warpa-ge of the ends occurring in manufacture or in service, prevents the firm seating of the brick on the tubes and causes excessive wear of the latter.

I aim by my invention to obviate the foregoing diificulties and disadvantages, to provide a brick having greater density and compactness at the weak points, and, in general, to strengthen materially the tube contacting ortions of the brick, where such brick should e stron est.

In ad ition, I aim to roduce such an improved brick with less lafibr and ex ense than involved in the present method 0 manufacturing ordinary brick, and to dispense with the hand-moulding thereof and its aforementioned attendant difliculties and resulting weaknesses, and particularly to turn out the brick rapidly in large quantities by machinepressing the same, either in stifi' mud, or dry,

form.

How these advantages and others which are incident to my invention or will occur to those 1 skilled in the art are obtained will be evident from the following description in the light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a locomotive firebox showing the application of my improved brick in an arch therein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view through a die box and upper and lower dies suitable for pressing the brick in any pressing machine, and illustrating a mass of the green material therein ready for pressk Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 but with the upper die pressed down on the material;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the pressed brick in position in the die box, the latter being shown in section and the upper die being removed.

Referring first to Figs. 2 to 4:, it will be seen that I have therein illustrated a portion of a die box 2 of a pressing machine suitable for making the brick of the present invention, in which die box I provide a lower die 3 and an upper die 4., preferably formed of iron or steel, between which the refractory material 5 is placed for pressing. The lower die 3 is provided at one end with a convex surface 6 and at the other end with a sloping surface 7. The upper die is provided with similar surfaces 8, 9, in opposed relation to said surfaces 6, 7, that is: a curved surface 8 above the sloping surface 7, and a sloping surface 9 above the curved surface 6. I may also provide the upper diewith protruding portions such as the humps 10, 10, to form indentations in the brick such as are commonly made therein to reduce the weight thereof,

or to retard the flow of the gas'es and products of combustion in the firebox.

With reference now to Fig. 2, it will appear that a body of refractory clay or mud 5, in the form of a layer of greater thickness than the desired thickness of the brick to be made, is placed upon the lower die 3 in the die box, such layer being of substantially uniform thickness. The dies are then pressed together from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. The resultant brick,

having more material at its ends, in proportion to its thickness, is more compacted by the dies at those points, and, therefore, is formed with a greater density there, with a consequent increase in strength over the ordinary hand made brick just atthose points where strength is most needed, i. e., at the tube-fit ends Such increased density, as indicated in the drawings at 11, 11, is progressively greater from the main body of the bripk to the thinnest part thereof at the very en When the upper die is made with the protruding portions 10 (see particularly Fig. 5) a slight increase in density of the brick will also be obtained where it is thinned to form the gas retarding pockets.

The finished brick 5 (shown in Figs. .1 and 5), since it is of greater density and strength at its ends, is not only less likely to break during manufacture or to warp during firing in the kiln, but also, as a result, seats more accurately on the arch tubes 12in the fire box 13 of the locomotive, causes less wear on the tubes, and lasts longer in service, than the brick heretofore employed. Moreover, the progressive increase in density toward the ends is particularly advantageous in view of the fact that the thick portion of the brick is exposed to the greatest heat in service, and should not be of too great a density because of the greater danger of spalling, whereas the progressively thin ends are, in service, progressively cooler toward such ends by virture of the cooling action of the circular tion through the arch tubes, and may, therefore, be made of greater density and consequently of greater strength, where strength is needed, without danger of spallin Heretofore, this has not been known, it %eing the practice to form arch brick relatively light in density and of as uniform a density throughout as possible. y The present brick when pressed by machine is subjected to a pressure sufficient to ensure freedom from pockets and seams, and each brick turned out, although made in much less time and with less labor than handmade bricks, maybe made quite uniform in quality and density with any standard des1re Obviously, bricks of other shapes than that shown may be made by the same method and be possessed of the same advantageous characteristics as the one I have described, and

firebox. The method itself, however, is not. claimed herein, but forms the subject matter of and is claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 427,686, filed February 12, 1930, which is a division of this application.

What I claim is 1. A locomotive arch brick of non-uniform thickness having its thinnest portion. of greatest density and being progressively less dense toward its thickest ortion.

2. A locomotive arch brick having support engaging ends progressively less in thickness and correspondingly progressively greater in density than the main body of the brick.

3. In combination in a locomotive arch structure, an arch supporting water circulation member and a refractory arch brick of progressively greater density in the portion of its body which engages said member.

4. In combination in a locomotive arch structure, an arch supporting water circulation member and a refractory arch brickhaving a support-engaging end of progressively decreased thickness and increased density.

5. A locomotive arch brick having the support engaging ends thereof of greater density than the main body thereof.

6. A locomotive arch brick of uniform material, having a support engaging portion compressed, to a greater density than other portions.

7. In combination in a locomotive arch construction, arch supporting Water circulation members and a refractory arch brick having support-engaging ends of greater density than the intermediate portion of the brick which lies between the supporting members.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

ARTHUR F. BECKER. 

